Each fall, I am excited to receive the latest list of new English rose releases from David Austin roses. I am a HUGE fan of English hybrid roses – their lovely smell, their stacked petals, and their dreamy colors – each one make me so excited for the following spring.

2019’s new releases do not disappoint. A pale yellow, a stunning fuchsia, and lastly a gorgeous apricot named after Dame Judi Dench – yes, please!

Spring 2019: U.S. & Canada Three Beautiful New English Roses

News Brief

In Spring 2019, David Austin Roses introduces three beautiful new English Roses to U.S. and Canadian gardeners: soft yellow ‘Vanessa Bell’, rich apricot ‘Dame Judi Dench’ and fuchsia/cerise ‘James L. Austin’. “All three are top-performing English Roses, each with distinctive fragrance, beauty and appeal,” according to Michael Marriott, technical director and senior rosarian of David Austin Roses Ltd in Albrighton, England.

Austin’s English Roses are known for combining the classic flower forms and perfume of antique roses with the expanded color range, repeat flowering and disease resistance of modern roses. They can be grown in full sun or partial shade.

In ‘Vanessa Bell’ gardeners gain an exceedingly floriferous English Rose that is, unusually, pale yellow and also compact in its growth habit. “Austin’s breeding team considers ‘Vanessa Bell’ one of the most free-flowering varieties it has ever bred,” says Marriott, putting its level of quick-repeat bloom on par with recent Austin introductions, ‘Roald Dahl’ and ‘Olivia Rose Austin’. Robert Calkin, the acclaimed British floral fragrance expert who serves as Austin’s “rose nose," describes its fragrance as, "green tea with aspects of lemon and, at times, honey.”

David Austin Rose 'Vanessa Bell'

Also new are English Roses ‘Dame Judi Dench’ and ‘James L. Austin’.

‘Dame Judi Dench’ has large flowers in a glorious, sun-kissed shade of apricot that pales prettily towards the edges, where the ruffled petals catch the light in a halo effect. Its fragrance combines a lovely tea scent with notes of cucumber and a hint of kiwi.

David Austin Rose 'Dame Judi Dench'

Dame Judi Dench and her English rose

'James L. Austin’ has densely-petalled flowers in an unusual shade of reddish-pink. The large flowers have a fruity fragrance that evokes a mixture of blackcurrant, blackberry, raspberry and cherry, with hints of lemon zest and almond.

David Austin Rose 'James L. Austin'

With the new introductions, a total of 114 Austin-bred English Rose varieties are now available bare root to North American gardeners at www.davidaustinroses.com. Starting in Spring 2020, the three new varieties also will be available in nursery pots at fine garden centers across the U.S. and Canada where David Austin roses are sold.

Orders Shipped in Spring When Time to Plant While orders are taken year-round, David Austin ships bare root stock only January through mid-May, with delivery coordinated to match the correct time for planting in the recipient’s area. The roses are sold on a first-come basis. New introductions typically sell out early.

To order, visit www.davidaustinroses.com, call 800-328-8893, or write to David Austin Roses Limited, 15059 State Highway 64 West, Tyler, TX 75704. All David Austin roses sold in North America are specially selected for North American growing conditions and climate zones. All are grown and shipped within North America.

Grow citrus indoors with 12 to 16 hours of supplemental light. You can get good growth and vigor from citrus using MH/CMH, CFL, or intense HO T5 lamps, but you’ll need a full-size grow lamp.

You can also place citrus plants inside grow tents with HID lamps for best production. If you have very bright south-facing windows, you may be able to combine that natural light with a few spotlight CFLs to keep a group of citrus happy in your living room.

Gardening Under Lights Book

Your setup will depend on your level of interest and commitment, space, and budget. You might use a combination of equipment and setups. Shelving, closets, and countertops all hold plants in my house.

Young seedlings, houseplant cuttings, African violets, medium-temperature orchids, and cooler-season vegetable crops occupy indoor areas at any given time year-round. I also have a couple of previously unused indoor closets that work nicely for tucking away crops that like a bright spot in the 65°F to 85ºF (18–29°C) range without exposure to very hot or cold temperatures.

Gardening Under Lights Book

If you're interested in gardening under lights indoors, it's good to have a basic understanding of photosynthesis. Photosynthesis is a reaction to a transfer of energy. Think of a plant’s leaves and green stems as light-energy collectors; nature's very own solar panels.

Light hits the surface of a leaf or a green stem, and specific cells convert the light energy into sugars. These sugars move around the plant, driving various biological functions. A major by-product of photosynthesis is oxygen; hence, we breathe. When using indoor grow lights, your goal should be to provide enough light to fuel successful photosynthesis.

Gardening Under Lights Book

Depending on the crop you’re growing, temperatures that are too hot or too cold can hinder growth and development. Every type of plant has an optimal temperature range for producing healthy foliage and flowers. Temperature settings that are too high, coupled with no water, is a bad combination.

Temperatures for this orchid were too hot and it dried out and dropped all its leaves. Most of the canes have also died. Whoops!

Gardening Under Lights Book

The wattage of your lamp dictates the distance from plants. Lamps that are 150W are not very hot and can be placed within 6-8" of your plants, while 600W lamps need to be kept at a distance of 18-24".

My young naranjilla (Solanum quitoense) transplants, and Brugmansia cuttings, are growing about 6-8” below a 4-lamp T5 fluorescent fixture. As they get taller, they’ll need to be moved further away from the lamps or their foliage will burn.

Gardening Under Lights Book

Want to grow your own carrots? Carrots are generally easy to grow, under the right conditions. Direct seed carrots into the garden or growing container that you'll keep indoors. As with all root crops, carrots do not transplant well and need to develop right where they germinate. Sow seeds ½ 8 to ¼ inch deep. Once seedlings have emerged, thin them out so they are 1 to 2 inches apart.

Grow carrots with 10 to 12 hours of light from grow lamps indoors at cool temperatures to discourage early bolting. If your home is too warm or you do not air-cool a grow tent, a cool garage with grow lights is a good location.

Gardening Under Lights Book

Some of the newer, larger LED grow-light fixtures, especially those labeled for commercial production, produce a light that mimics the spectrum output of HPS lamps or HO T5 fluorescents, and they are marketed as low-energy replacements for both.

One limitation of LED lamps is that you cannot replace the bulb once it stops functioning. When a diode quits working, that lamp is kaput. Some manufacturers, however, claim their LEDs will last for upward of 100,000 hours and that you will never need to change a bulb.

Gardening Under Lights Book